EGS Project

24°C is a major temperature difference – more than what differentiates an average summer day from a winter day in many places in Europe. 24°C – and consequently worlds – separate students and teachers, who are committed to responsible handling of energy in various countries throughout Europe. This is what the partners of the European Project of Energy Education Governance Schools (EGS) determined at the beginning of March 2010 at an international forum in Järvenpää, Finland:

The Romanian representative, Horatiu Soim (Western University ‘Vasile Goldis’ Arad) reported than many schools in his country are poorly heated in winter and that the lowest temperatures taken in classrooms were 3-4°C. On the other hand, the Umweltbüro Nord e.V., which supports German schools in saving energy and climate protection, measured a maximum value of over 27°C, also in the winter.

There is also diversity in other respects: for example, in Finland, school development, focused on the approach of sustainability, is being very stringently promoted. In accordance with a national action plan, all Finish schools should have set up a sustainability programme by the end of 2010. By 2014, 15% of schools should have acquired a sustainability or environment certificate. “Energy” – i.e. the energy efficiency in everyday school life and the education of the students in this matter – is a central issue here. It is not just an appropriate certification procedure which has been developed here; the country also provides considerable funds, among other things, in order to train teachers and advise schools. In Federal Germany, every Bundesland must find its own way to anchor this subject in the education system; one model, for example, is the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg, where the “Fifty/Fifty” incentive system has long since existed and where a masterplan for climate protection in schools has been in implementation since 2010. In Romania or Bulgaria, on the other hand, interested schools must manage all this largely alone.

All contributions from the international forum – from Finland, Austria, Italy, Romania and Germany – have now been published on www.egs-project.eu.

The website also provides information about how the 23 EGS partners from 10 countries are promoting energy efficiency in schools. The partners have approved a European manifest for energy efficiency in schools. They carry out energy audits and training courses. The participating schools involve extracurricular partners in order to become germ cells of a sustainable energy sector on a local level.
At an international student congress “Energy Efficiency in Schools” on 7th - 8th October in Stralsund, further results from the project will be presented.